Road plans rattle nerves

By Mike Cherney

The Sun News

September 10, 2008

Vince Brady of The Lakes subdivision in Myrtle Beach, looks over into a pond at the rear of his home on Catawba River Rd. The 4th public hearing for the southern evacuation lifeline project will be held Thursday for a new road proposed that would be built as an evacuation route for South Strand residents. The proposed road would run close to the rear of the Brady's property where Vince lives with his wife Janice.

After retiring from their jobs in New Jersey, Janice and Vince Brady bought a home in The Lakes subdivision with a pond and thick woods behind their house.

Three years later, the Bradys are fighting a proposed highway that could go right through those woods. The Bradys fear the road will destroy their property values and disrupt the peace and quiet they sought in retirement.

"Who wants to live with that in your backyard?" said Janice Brady, 53. "Even if it is a couple hundred feet away, it's still unacceptable. How do you live like that?"

The proposed route for the Southern Evacuation Lifeline, the 28-mile highway that would cost an estimated $700 million and ease congestion in the area, has generated opposition from some homeowners in The Lakes subdivision who say the road will be too close to the development

The road would serve the South Strand and connect U.S. 17 Bypass to the intersection of S.C. 22 and U.S. 501. The S.C. Department of Transportation announced the preferred route for the road last month, but there is still no money available to finish an environmental study and build the highway.

Using a combination of computer software and field work, the DOT studied 28 different routes and says the preferred route - the one that passes near the Bradys' home - would have the smallest effect on property and the environment while still accomplishing the purpose of the project.

But at a property owners association meeting last week in The Lakes, located off U.S. 17 Bypass just south of Holmestown Road, past President Pat Keelan said there was little support for the proposed route for the road, called SELL.

"We wanted to construct our dream house," said Carmine Pluchino, 58, who lives down the road from the Bradys. "We had it built just the way we wanted it and we're very happy. We spent a good portion of our nest egg to live here, and we had no intentions of moving - up until SELL."

Residents in the subdivision said they recognized the need for an evacuation route in the South Strand but thought there were other places to build it. The proposed route also could affect 300 additional homes and a second entrance that was planned for The Lakes.

"There really was never a thought in the residents of The Lakes that it would come in that direction," said Matt Securro, 40, who lives on the same road as the Bradys. "There's some understanding that this is needed, and it's going to have to go some place, so now we need to think through it."

Some residents suggested beginning the road at S.C. 707 or that Holmestown Road be used as part of the route to connect to U.S. 17 Bypass. Both would eliminate the impact on The Lakes.

A fourth and final public hearing on the road will be held today in Georgetown County. The Greater Burgess Community Association will also discuss the issue at its 7 p.m. meeting today at the Burgess Community Center on S.C. 707. A portion of the road goes through the community.

Back in The Lakes, all that could be heard in the Bradys' backyard Wednesday afternoon was the hum of an air conditioner, the twitter of bugs and the distant whir of cars on U.S. 17 Bypass. Janice Brady looked at a tree in her backyard, planted as a memorial to a friend who passed away. "My tree," she said. "They better not mess with my tree."